Uniting in Love預覽

Communion of the Saints

Our communion with God flows from our union with Christ.

We are also united to the church by our union with Christ and can worship and commune with the saints by virtue of this inseparable union.

The church was purchased by the blood of Christ, and Christ continues to build his church for the glory of God. Believers are part of the universal church, which includes all believers across all places and all times. We are also each a part of the local church. This is a local expression of God’s people who gather to worship God corporately through the preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and church discipline exercised by godly elders.

On the Lord’s Day, we are united in worship through God’s Word, prayer, confession, singing, feasting, fellowship, and love. We walk in love with one another because Christ has loved us and given himself for us. Jesus says that the world will know that we are his disciples if we love one another.

Besides corporately worshiping and partaking in the Lord’s Supper together, a good way to foster our union with other Christians is through practising the “One Another” commands in the Bible.

We are to love one another, be at peace, live in harmony, and wait for one another. Christians do not bite, devour, and consume one another. We bear with one another, being kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. We encourage one another with the words of Christ, especially about the resurrection. We seek to do good to one another and not to speak evil. We pray for one another and confess our sins to one another. We serve and submit to one another as we stir up one another to love and good deeds. We clothe ourselves in humility, not judging or being a stumbling block to one another, as we also admonish and speak the truth to one another.

We are one body under Christ, our head, and we need each other—every part. Though we may be diverse in every other aspect of our lives, there is one central, powerful, and indispensable characteristic we share with other Christians. The Father has united us to the Son in the Spirit. We belong to God, and we are, therefore, family. This bond that we have with Christ, through his love, unites us to each other in love for one another. May we respond to that union with a loving communion of the saints.

Reflection Questions

How can you respond in love to the union you have with those in your local church?

Which saint from a different time or place has been a benefit to you by reading their words or hearing their voice?

Which of the “one another” commands do you struggle with the most? How can you grow in that?

How have you benefited from another Christian uniting with you in love?